1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording control apparatus, a recording control method, and a computer program product.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical multifunction product (MFP), a nonvolatile random access memory (NVRAM) for storing therein user information and charging information is removably mounted on a control board. Therefore, when the control board has a trouble and needs to be replaced to a new one, the NVRAM removed from the old control board can be mounted on the new control board. With the functional increase of an MFP, a plurality of NVRAM devices is generally mounted on a control board in the MFP.
However, for example, when a service person replaces the control board with a new one, he or she may set the NVRAM devices in wrong positions on the new control board by mistake because the NVRAM devices have the same shape, although the NVRAM devices can be distinguished from one another by labels affixed thereto or the like.
If the NVRAM devices are mounted in the wrong positions, hardware terminals are configured not to be damaged by the improper mountings. However, an address different from each storage module is assigned to each of memory areas of each of the NVRAM devices by software, so that when the MFP is powered on, and a boot process of the MFP is started, it may cause the access to the incorrect NVRAM device due to the improper mountings of the NVRAM devices. As a result, for example, important user information stored in the NVRAM device may be lost or rewritten.
In conventional technologies, data stored in each of the NVRAM devices can be checked, for example, based on the sum of data values of which. However, even if the NVRAM devices are mounted in the wrong positions, the sum of data values is the same. Therefore, it is not possible to detect that the NVRAM devices are mounted in the wrong positions.
To solve such problems, there have been developed various technologies. As an example of the technologies, there is provided a circuit for determining each of modules. However, this technology disadvantageously increases in cost. As another example of the technologies, NVRAM devices are configured to be physically incompatible with one another. However, in this technology, the NVRAM devices or sockets of which need to be physically processed, resulting in the lack in versatility and the increase in production cost.
Furthermore, a disk recording/reproducing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-259939 is configured to verify whether a disk identification data (ID) stored in a main body of the apparatus and a disk ID recorded in a sub data area of a disk are matched. When the disk IDs are mismatched, the disk recording/reproducing apparatus write-protects the disk so that data stored in the main body of which, such as the disk ID and edit data, is protected from being copied onto the disk, and displays an alarm message. The disk recording/reproducing apparatus ensures an arbitrary timing of recording disk management information or the like on the disk and the security of recording information stored therein.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-174474 discloses a data protecting method of a recording apparatus. In this method, at the factory, a computer program or data is encoded with an error correcting code, and the encoded computer program or data is written on the recording apparatus. In addition, check data is also encoded with the error correcting code, and the encoded check data is written in an unused area of the recording apparatus. When the recording apparatus is marketed, the encoded computer program or data and the encoded check data are decoded, and the absence of error is checked. By this method, the recording apparatus can protect data stored therein securely.
However, in the technologies disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. H6-259939 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-174474, there are described about how data is checked and the timing of recording the data, but not described about the protection of data stored in an improperly-mounted device. Therefore, there is a possibility of loss of data.